Assorted

Every time I meet an Entrepreneur, I get something to take away. Kabhi Zindagi ki Seekh, Kabhi Aage ki Soch aur kabhi acche dost. However kabhi-kabhi you get all of this in a single shot.

27th October was one such evening. It was a Startup Mixer organized by Inc42 which has become a must read, must follow for every Startup in India. The invite was by filling in a form and then waiting to get it approved. I filled in my form and asked my wife Gurleen to do the same, because of her company www.hareepatti.com and its new product Startup Secure.

Sach kahu to I had doubts about my application’s approval. However, Pooja jee and Vaibhav Bhai were very kind and approved it. So Gurleen, Ashish Bhai, Abhishek Bhai and myself left for the Venue on the scheduled date and time. The Venue Olive is an old property and is still one of the best in Delhi. The mixer was on the spacious terrace and as soon as I entered I was greeted with by a server serving Lamb Tikkas. I thought to myself ‘Uff….. yeh to abhi se khilana shuru ho gaye’. Jhooth nahi bolunga… it was the BEST. I loved it and best part was that raat ko jab hum 11 baje nikle when the mixer was about to end, tab tak bhi snacks were being served.

Anyways, while I was relishing my first kebab, I met many of my friends Fellow Entrepreneurs and its always good to meet them. I quoted some time back that

“It is said that only a women can understand a women. To that, I add that only an Entrepreneur can understand an Entrepreneur”

Kisi se jhappi, kisi se haath milana , kisi ko door se hello aur jisko na jaante ho uske saamne se muskura kar nikal jaana. Bas yehi chalta raha and in between the conversations flew, ideas exchanged, nostalgic memories shared and we all promised to meet soon. I have to say that this was a well-organised event. Good set of people, mast snacks, selected cocktails kept flowing. Main Course waale Chawal Jambalaya were good and the person serving them Mr Dutta who had just joined Olive a month back was a well-informed person.

If some participants missed the desserts then they can blame me. I ate all of them, especially the Chocolate Mousse where I used my finger repeatedly to eat and spared the spoon. By the way, desserts bas 2 mins ke liye gayab the as they were again replaced immediately at the serving table. However, I made a quick exit before I may again get tempted to try a few more.

Jambalaya

Have to thank the team of INC42 for this amazing Event and who bhi “Free” . This one event would have made life better for many people at INC42 Delhi Mixer.

Shayad one year baad we shall see a Blog or hear someone mentioning how this one night at INC 42 Mixer helped someone with his or her Startup work better.

4th July. Only some of us may know the relevance of this date in India. And those who know are either people who have some links with USA or probably those who work in American companies and get a Holiday here in India because it’s a holiday in USA on 4th July.

It’s a day commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the date on which the United States formally separated from Great Britain

India’s new BJP leading government has extensively and correctly shown its ambition to create over 100 new smart cities in India as satellite townships around the big cities – many of which are along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) – though not restricted to the area. Developing over 1,000 km, the corridor between Delhi and Mumbai is expected to accumulate over $90 billion of foreign investment to develop manufacturing zones, business parks and new smart cities along a committed rail freight corridor.

The Challenge of Urbanization in India and China:

India is expected to see enormous urbanization along the same lines of what we have seen in China, where urbanization crossed 50 percent last year and is projected to cross 75 percent in the next 5 years. Statistically more people live in cities all over than in rural areas. Accordingly, there is a bigger need to develop agricultural productivity by lessening manpower on farms and transferring them to areas of higher productivity in industry, resulting in an overall growth in productivity in the economy. After all, assembling Apple iPhones creates higher added value than growing rice!

This enormous migration to urban areas will be the characterizing feature of the Indian economy in the coming decade – very much in line with the urbanization happening all over the globe. Smart cities need multi-dimensional, unifying thinking, and will not happen naturally. They can only result from a central planning authority. Without any state level interference, current cities will become unlivable and disorganised, given the scale of the migration expected. Therefore, new cities have to be set up – many around current urban areas as satellite towns. This has additional benefits of clustering and benefits of scale in creation of all kinds of urban infrastructure needed for a smart city.

Creation of such new smart cities needs to be closely tied to the concepts of sustainability. This desires these new cities to be “smart,” i.e. creating new types of transport systems to avoid overpopulation that is currently so rampant in many Asian towns, construction using low energy housing materials, newer water harvesting techniques and comprehensive use of IT systems on cloud in running various urban functions and the provision of e-government services to its citizens. Furthermore, such cities should be self-sufficient in being able to create gainful employment for residents so that cross city travel is diminished.

Singapore advantage:

Many countries in the world are moving towards creating such smart cities. Singapore has broadly experimented with and successfully created various smart green corridors/urban townships within its restricted land area of around 700 sq km. Its transport systems, water management, thorough use of IT and land use planning is world class and have won many distinctions over the years and placed it in the top leagues of well-planned smart and habitable cities. Even though it is one of the densest cities in the world, it has created an eco-friendly living environment with parks and gardens around concentrated mini townships all connected with an excellent metro system, which has decreased road congestion.

The Chinese government has made use of utilized Singapore’s skills in such urban planning. In the mid-nineties, it created a model business park-cum-city in a joint venture with Singapore at Suzhou, which became the model for brand new business parks around China. After that, JVs were created via Singbridge for an Eco-city in Tianjin and Knowledge City in Guangzhou. All of these are models of smart cities created as smart towns in massively urbanized environments with sustainability being the principle driver and capability to create employment at the same time. In India, a Singapore government company, Ascendas, has been at the forefront of creating state of the art IT and business parks which have been role models for such facilities in India since the mid-nineties. This experience should be advantaged further in India.

One way to fast track planning and construction of such smart cities is to contain the private sector in India within a given framework for such new townships by the government. This would need to be particular to the creation of such smart cities in designated areas, so that existing and out-of-days laws do not become an obstruction. These activities would need to be attempted by approved consortia, which would assist in conceptualizing, designing world class smart city arrays. Such corporation with well-known Singaporean partners with proven competence in smart city planning and development, would bring the current techniques and would additionally project manage the construction of such smart cities via well-known developers. Creating such corporation is a mandatory to planning and project managing the creation of such world class continual townships. Using Singapore based urban planning groups is recommended given their experience in Asia and its intimacy to India.

India is going down the path to manage its urbanization more excellent via the creation of 100 smart cities. Singapore with its intimacy to India and with admissible skills and experience in creation of smart and habitable cities in Asia is ideally positioned. What it needs to do is to brazenly seize the moment.

Lets Hope 2020 that some work on Smart Cities would be near completion by 2020

The Images have been Sourced from google.com

PS:This is an Experiment we are working on and waiting to see the results

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Saw it, Liked it, Clicked it, Shared it!! #52

Have you ever got the following kind of Message on facebook, WhatsApp, eMail?

“”I got your profile from ‘People you may know’ because we have some common friends.

I am working in IT Industry and having successful careers. Along with my job am working with group of professionals on our own business venture & fortunately right now we are in a global expansion phase and looking for handful of sharp & ambitious people as business partner.By looking at your profile I felt you might be one of them. Hey it may be shot in the dark,Are you open minded at looking at a business opportunity to create extra money without disturbing your primary profession ? If yes drop me your number, will reach back you. Regards””

Probably we all have, And for sure ENTREPRENEURS have.

Been a While Alok Kejriwal Sir posted a Query in this regard on QUORA asking 10 Questions about QNET.

Here was my Reply. Do Read it….. It may give you a better picture on what QNET is and probably save you lots of Money, HeartBurn and FRIENDS!!

Here it is…..

Today if Somebody asks to meet me… I confirm to check if so that he is not from Qnet and is not here to brainwash me and try to get a cheque of Rs 1,20,000 from me!

Q1. WHAT is the Business of Qnet

Answer – The very thought of Saying Qnet and BUSINESS in word is Wrong. The question should be “How does Qnet Fool People” or “Is QNET run by Sahara group?”

2. What is the GREATNESS in products that Qnet sells?
Answer: The products are show off…. They are used to create high Expectations that one would be selling a World Class Product for Literally Peanuts.

3. Who makes these products that Qnet sells and what is the relationship of Qnet the Company and the manufacturers?

Answer: It hardly makes a Difference. Main purpose is to fool people and motivate them to Fool more by getting more memberships4. What margins are possible to be earned on such products? Answer with world examples of similar industries and quote some publicly available data.

Answer: Read Answer 3

5. How can these margins be remunerative by sharing across multiple levels of people? If margins are finite, how can sharing be infinite? (It is possible mathematically but if I divide say US$ 19 commission between say 390,000 people, each person gets a ridiculously meaningless share).

Answer: Margins to be shared are from the membership money and not Product sales per se. The more people below the Pyramid more one makes money. So eventually…. Only the promoters make money and then Invite Richard Branson on their meetings and then earn more money

6. Why cant Qnet sell its great products (with its great margins like Walmart) and become the biggest retailer in the world?

Answer: Product is not the King here…… It is the Channel.

7. If the Business model of Qnet is to empower people, make them rich and free them so that they can pursue their hobbies, why cant Qnet FIRST become a Fortune 500 Company (Like Walmart) and then OPEN A WORLD CLASS COLLEGE like Harvard that educates people for FREE and liberates people so that they can do what they want in the world??

Answer: Some Day… MLM would be pronounced illegal in all countries and all this vicious Cycle will stop. So why to Waste money. Rather earn Now to splurge later.

8. Why is the process of approaching potential ‘members’ like that of a secret Cult? Why didn’t ANY OF THE PEOPLE who approached me simply say “Alok, Sell Qnet” (Like they say – Sell Insurance) – WHY DID THEY MAKE IT SOUND LIKE VOODOO??

Answer: if you show a person a rotten sandwich they will not eat…… But They know there are many fools who will bite this rotten sandwich when you tell them that it is baked in a 300 year old Stone Oven….. Only to have a sever Financial and Mental Diarrhea later

9. Is the Qnet model ONLY based on “PESTER MARKETING”? (Defined : I will tell you to buy and you WILL BE obliged TO BUY because you can’t say NO to me because of our relationship)
Answer: Nahi jee……. It is mainly sold to ENTREPRENEURS and wanna be Entrepreneurs who are already struggling in some way or other.
Also,They try to keep it classy…

· By Fixing the Meeting at COSTA Coffee
· Some one else would call you and say “Mr soNso,My partner is in Town and would be great if you could meet up., He is very influential and this would help in your earning capacity”
· They would start talking to you… on eComm and then shift to Asking you. Would you like to earn 3 lakhs per month etc etc.
· He-she will brag about themselves. One I met said I earn Rs 3 Lakhs per month. And a while before when I asked him about how he is going back to Mumbai he said by Rajdhani 3 AC.
“Bhaiya, jab itna paisa hai, to By Air jao na… you will find many murgas on your way and save your precious time too”

10. WHY SHOULD I INVEST UPFRONT??
Answer: Because that’s not their AGENDA! Simple

I hope this would leave you with enough background to take a Decision, if some one from QNET calls you next

I thought why not do our own version with Eatlo family who were supposed to meet in a day for Breakfast at Novelty, Jang Pura, New Delhi.

With my Phone in hand I requested every one to do a few moves. Some Obliged and most of them did not. But I did have some recording and wanted to use it in some way. So called upa a friend of mien and share it with him and told him “Do whatever best you can do with it”

And here is the Final Product. a 31 Second video.

Thanks to everyone who participated with full Masti. And this shall be repeated soon some day, better than This, longer than this

Oxford Book Store and Rumour Books India welcoming us at the Book Launch

There are some people in whose Company you feel elated and feel like you too can become an Achiever.

There are some Places, where you get so many positive vibes that one gets a feeling that you too can make a Big Space for yourself.

There are some moments, where you love what’s happening around you and be thankful to the almighty for those moments that have passed, happening and about to come.

Yesterday was an Amalgamation of these. First being the presence of Harsh Snehanshu Bhai and Awesome Authors of Mango Chutney.

Some of the bright Authors on the Stage.

Secondly being in a Book Store. Book Stores and Libraries in itself are Place over flowing with Positivity, Thoughts, Actions and more so because it has Books in which are sealed Imaginations, Experiences of so so many people. And on top of it, This was a Book Shop housed in an 80 year old Building with Double Height floor, Big Windows and lots of Chai Aroma seeping in through the Cha Bar in the Complex.

Third being one of the many Keen readers who had come to attend the launch & also know more about the Awesomeness called Mango Chutney.

Oh yes we had the Beautiful Gurleen Kaur & the Elegant Sakshi Bhasin Tulsian to give us company. The Bulbs that Lighten mine and Ashish Tuslian’s Life respectively.

Also, I learnt that when we write then we should “Show, Not Tell”

Am Glad, that unknowingly I have already been doing it since I started writing for self.
Also, I am a Person who writes real long sentences. And some how that may break a Readers flow or may confuse her. So better to write shorter sentences. I shall work on it.

Also, one learning which I came back with was that I need to Read Aloud and Work on my Voice Pitch and Voice Modulation.
I’m not bad at it, But when story “The Rejection Ceremony” by Shubham Kapur was read out by Ms Ramya Maddali, I realised how exactly it should be., The Way she did it!!

Thanks Ramya!

Requesting Harsh Bhai to sign a Copy for me.Thanks Sakshi Bhabhi for this Candid Capture

And here is my Signed Copy.

Harsh Bhai…. this one meeting has added enough Ink in my Pen to flow for next many reams.

Now, Looking forward to read it today

Thanks to everyone behind and in front of this & also to the Mast Masala Cha and Lil Samosi’s we had there.

This is a Pic we shall be Treasured for life. (L>R) Shashank Agarwal, Gurpreet Singh Tikku, Harsh Snehanshu and Ashish Tulsian.
Loved it when Harsh Bhai mentioned ” I’m so glad to meet my three favorite Dilliwalas after such a long time”